TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

June 29, 1905, At Brooklyn, the Giants tally seven runs in the first three innings off Mal Eason to coast to an 11 – 1 victory. Christy Mathewson leaves after five innings of shutout ball. Dan McGann paces the offense with a triple and homer, while Moonlight Graham, in his only game in the majors, takes over in right field as a late-inning replacement. Graham will have no at-bats but will be made famous in the movie Field of Dreams.

If not for W.P. Kinsella, it’s likely that Archibald “Moonlight” Graham would have remained a baseball footnote instead of a popular culture figure. When Kinsella explored Graham’s one-game major-league career in his 1982 novel Shoeless Joe, he tapped into the bedrock curiosity of baseball fans craving stories beyond statistics.

Graham led the New York State League with a .336 BA and a career-high 38 SB.

“It was the last day of the season. Bottom of the eighth inning, we were way ahead. I had been up with the club about, oh about three weeks, but I hadn’t seen any action. Suddenly, old John McGraw points a bony finger in my direction and he says, ‘Right field.’ I jumped up like I was sittin’ on a spring. Grabbed by glove and ran out onto the field.”

“Did you get to make a play?”

“Never hit the ball out of the infield. Game ended. The season was over. I knew they’d send me back down. I couldn’t bear the thought of another year in the minors. So, I decided to hang ’em up.” – Burt Lancaster Field of Dreams

Graham led the New York State League with a .336 BA and a career-high 38 SB and it should be noted he actually played 3 more years before hanging up his cleats.

June 29, 1929, Sherman “Jocko” Maxwell became the first African American sports broadcaster, starting his career on WNJ in Newark, New Jersey. Most of Mr. Maxwells career he worked for free. His main love on the air was to give the scores of Negro League Games And he was the first to begin to Chronicle The Negro Leagues. In 1940, Maxwell authored a book of interviews with players entitled, Thrills and Spills in Sports.

June 26, 1936 Harmon Killebrew is born in Payette, ID Nicknamed the Killer, he was one of the most prolific power hitters in MLB history. Killebrew led all players in home runs in the 1960s and was 4th all-time in HR at the time of his retirement. Playing most of his career with the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, Harmon led the AL in HR 6X, was an All-Star in 11 seasons and won the 1969 AL MVP Award. His uniform #3 is retired by the Twins. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984 (83.1% on the 4th ballot). In his 22-year career (1954-1975), Killebrew had 2,086 hits, 573 HR, 1,584 RBI, 1,559 BB, .256 BA, .376 OBP, .509 Slg., & .884 OPS.

June 29, 1941, Joe DiMaggio breaks George Sisler’s record for the longest hitting streak in American League history. In the first game of a doubleheader, DiMaggio hits a double to tie the mark off Dutch Leonard. in the nightcap, the “Yankee Clipper” tops the record with a 7th-inning single against Walt Masterson to break Sisler’s 1922 record of 41 straight games.

June 29, 1961 In the first game of a double header, Willie Mays hits three round-trippers at Philadelphia – one a 10th-inning shot to win 8 – 7 – Mays becomes the 4th major league player with three or more home runs twice in one season. In the night cap Manager Gene Mauch’s efforts to conceal his starting pitcher and force Al Dark’s hand has a Phillies lineup including hurlers Don Ferrarese (batting leadoff, playing CF), Jim Owens (3rd, RF), Chris Short (7th, C), and Ken Lehman (9th, P) against San Francisco. When Dark sends a lefty to the mound, Mauch replaces Ferrarese. Dark then replaces Billy O’Dell with Sam Jones. Mauch replaces Lehman with Dallas Green after two batters. All the manoeuvering takes three hours and 20 minutes. The Giants then take the nitecap, 4 – 1, as Mays triples and doubles home two runs and completes a double play with a throw home.

June 29, 1969 — At Wrigley Field 41,060 fans come to see Billy William plays in his 896th consecutive game to surpass Stan Musial‘s mark established in 1957, when the Cubs sweep a doubleheader from the Cardinals 3-1 and 12-1, with the Chicago outfielder going 4-5 with a single, a double, and two triples in the nightcap. The team honors the accomplishment with an emotional ceremony between games of the twin bill on ‘Billy Williams Day’ the crowd of 41,060 at Wrigley Field that visibly moves Sweet Swingin’ Billy Williams.

June 29, 1972, the Oakland A’s and Atlanta Braves become the first teams to trade former MVPs for one another. Oakland sends Denny McLain to Atlanta for Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda. McLain will win just three of eight decisions with the Braves, while Cepeda will come to bat only three times with the A’s because of knee problems.

June 29, 1977 Willie Stargell hits his 400th career home run, this one coming off Eric Rasmussen of the Cardinals. Bruce Kison (6-3) is the winning pitcher.
“My first was in 1963 off Tony Cloninger in Milwaukee,” said the Pittsburgh Pirate’s slugger. “The hardest ball I ever hit was in Three Rivers Stadium at Pittsburgh in 1972 against Ron Taylor of the Mets. I hit it on a line and it was still rising when it hit the facade in the upper deck. “I guess the one I remember best was in the 1965 All-Star game in Minnesota off Mudcat Grant” Stargell Wednesday night became the 17th player in major league history to hit 400 homers when he sent a two-run shot into the rightfield stands as Pittsburgh routed the St Louis Cardinals 9-1.

June 29, 1983, former major league sensation Mark “The Bird” Fidryh announces his retirement. The 1976 American League Rookie of the Year had been attempting a comeback in the minor leagues, but was struggling with a record of 2-5 and an ERA of 9.68 for the Pawtucket Red Sox. The news came after a packed house at McCoy Stadium seen Him face off against future Yankee Great Dave Righetti.

June 29, 1990 Oakland’s Dave Stewart and the Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela both throw no-hitters today, the first time this has happened since Hippo Vaughn and Fred Toney’s double no-hitter in 1917. Stewart blanks the Blue Jays, 5 – 0, and a few hours later Valenzuela beats the Cardinals, 6 – 0. The only threat to Stewart is a fly ball by Fred McGriff that Dave Henderson catches with his back pinned to the wall. Fernando almost loses his no-hitter with one out in the 9th when Pedro Guerrero hits a grounder up the middle with a runner on. Valenzuela, a former Gold Glover deflects the ball towards second base where SS Alfredo Griffin starts a game-ending double play.

A member of the Pittsburgh Pirates "Lumber Company" of the 1970s, Dave Parker was an imposing man with the bat in his hands. At nearly 6'6" and weighing 230 pounds, Parker terrified opposing pitchers, evident by the fact that he led the league in intentional walks twice in his career. He was named 1978 National League Most Valuable Player, when he hit .334 with 30 homers, 117 RBI, 12 triples and 20 stolen bases. He earned the nickname "Cobra" due to his coiled batting stance, and he lasted into his 40s, hitting 339 career homers in a 19-year career.

Big League Debut: July 12, 1973
As a high school player, Parker underwent surgery on his left knee. The injury was the primary reason that he slipped to the 14th round in the 1970 June draft.

Notes
In 1975, his first season as a regular, Parker hit .259 against southpaws and .339 against RHP. He batted .272 at Three Rivers Stadium, and .359 on the road.

Injuries and Explanation for Missed Playing Time
Parker spent time on the DL in 1974 with a severe hamstring pull... In spring training in 1976, Parker set his goals for the season: "I'd like to add 10 points to my average, hit 10 more home runs and drive in 10 more runs." But a few nagging injuries (the hamstrings again) kept him out of the lineup for a few days here and there, and he fell short, raising his batting average five points, hitting 12 fewer homers, and driving in 11 fewer runs.

Hitting Streaks
22 games (1977)
22 games (1977)
15 games (1980)

Quotes From Parker
"I think the day will come when I'll be the Stargell in the lineup." — Parker, in 1976

Dave Parker was voted into the Hall of Fame Class of 2025. He passed away June 28, 2025

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